X-House, MUTOPIA’s transformation project of a shutdown school, opens

Today, Faaborg-Midtfyns Deputy Mayor Anne Møllegaard Mortensen opened the X-House, a transformed former school situated on Funen, the third-largest island of Denmark. Reborn as a multifunctional community centre, the transformed school features several interventions aimed at supporting multiple uses and increased shared activity, including a new ‘public living room’, a dynamic central meeting space which creates a new focal area and an icon of the revitalized X-shaped structure embodying transparency and connectivity.

The new grand multi-space, easily reachable from the parking area by means of a ramp blended into a wooden ‘Spanish Stair’, centralizes access and distribution, and interconnects visually and physically the different functional areas of the X, while providing flexible space for informal being together and community activities. Checkerboard openings and a full-height glass façade facing the main access provide generous amounts of natural light, while a chimney with a suspended lounge and fireplace, together with a floating orangery and a vertical garden add a note of ‘hygge’ – Danish cosiness – to the space. “A beautiful and welcoming landmark for volunteering, community and skilled work”, MUTOPIA co-founder Kristina Adsersen says.

The project is a response to the desire for social innovation, and the need to strengthen the local community to avoid the downfall of depopulation. Enthusiastically called “a fantastic building and an architectural gem with an inspiring, airy and green environment” by Jørgen Brink, the representative of the X-House Association, the project “announces a new era in the history of Vester Hæsinge” according to Deputy Mayor Anne Møllegaard Mortensen.

The realization of the project, which provides a new identity for the shutdown school as a ‘social greenhouse’, has been made possible by financial support from Lokale og Anlægsfonden (The Danish Foundation for Culture and Sports Facilities), Realdania and Ken Fonden, The Municipality of Faaborg-Midtfyn, along with voluntary work and contributions from local citizens and companies.